Climate driven coevolution of weathering profiles and hillslope topography generates dramatic differences in critical zone architecture

Considerable debate revolves around the relative importance of rock type, tectonics, and climate in creating the architecture of the critical zone. We demonstrate the importance of climate and in particular the rate of water recharge to the subsurface, using numerical models that incorporate hydrologic flowpaths, chemical weathering, and geomorphic rules for soil production and transport. We track alterations in both solid phase (plagioclase to clay) and water chemistry along hydrologic flowpaths that include lateral flow beneath the water table. To isolate the role of recharge, we simulate dry and wet cases and prescribe identical landscape evolution rules. The weathering patterns that develop differ dramatically beneath the resulting parabolic interfluves. In the dry case, incomplete weathering is shallow and surface parallel, whereas in the wet case, intense weathering occurs to depths approximating the base of the bounding channels, well below the water table. Exploration of intermediate cases reveals that the weathering state of the subsurface is strongly governed by the ratio of the rate of advance of the weathering front itself controlled by the water input rate, and the rate of erosion of the landscape. The system transitions between these end‐member behaviours rather abruptly at a weathering front speed ‐ erosion rate ratio of approximately 1. Although there are undoubtedly direct roles for tectonics and rock type in critical zone architecture, and yet more likely feedbacks between these and climate, we show here that differences in hillslope‐scale weathering patterns can be strongly controlled by climate.     

Reconstruction of the layer anisotropic elastic parameters and high-resolution fracture characterization from P-wave data: a case study using seismic inversion and Bayesian rock physics parameter estimation

Wide-azimuth seismic data can be used to derive anisotropic parameters on the subsurface by observing variation in subsurface seismic response along different azimuths. Layer-based high-resolution estimates of components of the subsurface anisotropic elastic tensor can be reconstructed by using wide-azimuth P-wave data by combining the kinematic information derived from anisotropic velocity analysis with dynamic information obtained from amplitude versus angle and azimuth analysis of wide-azimuth seismic data. Interval P-impedance, S-impedance and anisotropic parameters associated with anisotropic fracture media are being reconstructed using linearized analysis assuming horizontal transverse anisotropy symmetry. In this paper it is shown how additional assumptions, such as the rock model, can be used to reduce the degrees of freedom in the estimation problem and recover all five anisotropic parameters. Because the use of a rock model is needed, the derived elastic parameters are consistent with the rock model and are used to infer fractured rock properties using stochastic rock physics inversion. The inversion is based on stochastic rock physics modelling and maximum a posteriori estimate of both porosity and crack density parameters associated with the observed elastic parameters derived from both velocity and amplitude versus angle and azimuth analysis. While the focus of this study is on the use of P-wave reflection data, we also show how additional information such as shear wave splitting and/or anisotropic well log data can reduce the assumptions needed to derive elastic parameter and rock properties.     

Aeromagnetic study of peninsular India

The degree sheet Aeromagnetic maps up to 17‡N, acquired from the Geological Survey of India, have been manually redigitised at 6 minute intervals to study the long wavelength anomalies over peninsular India. These data have been collected at different survey altitude, epochs, flight line directions, etc. Great care has been taken to correct the total field map and remove the contribution due to the core field and prepare an accurate crustal anomaly map. For the first time, a regional map, depicting the NW-SE structural features north of the orthopyroxene isograd with the essentially E-W features to the south of it and revealing several well known structures, is presented. The analytical signal is calculated to delineate the source fields of these anomalies. It dramatically maps the charnockites and is able to delineate the orthopyroxene isograd. In the Dharwar region the magnetic signatures are associated with the intrusives/ iron ore bodies. Thus, we find that the source rocks of the aeromagnetic anomalies are the host province of charnockites in the SGT and the intrusives/iron ore bodies in the Dharwar belt. Gravity residuals are calculated and a tectonic map of the region is presented from the combined geopotential data.     

Magsat studies over the Indian region

Data collected by Magsat have been extensively used by Indian scientists in studies of the crust beneath India. Results obtained by various workers have been summarized and the reasons for differences in findings have been discussed. It is concluded that methods that work well for higher latitudes do not give the best estimates of crustal field and magnetization in equatorial regions. A better estimate of the crustal component is obtained when the external current contribution is estimated using the symmetry properties of associatedX and Z-fields. Inversion technique that provides stable crustal magnetization in midlatitudes, becomes unstable near the equator. Why such an instability arises and how it can be circumvented are discussed. That the Peninsular shield, the Ganga basin and the Himalayas are three different geotectonic blocks is clearly reflected in the magnetization distribution. A thick magnetic crust under Aravalli, Singhbum and Dharwar suggest these areas to be comparatively stable. In general, seismic, gravity and heat flow data agree characteristically well with the magnetization estimates.     

NARX neural network approach for the monthly prediction of groundwater levels in Sylhet Sadar,Bangladesh

Groundwater is important for managing the water supply in agricultural countries like Bangladesh. Therefore, the ability to predict the changes of groundwater level is necessary for jointly planning the uses of groundwater resources. In this study, a new nonlinear autoregressive with exogenous inputs(NARX) network has been applied to simulate monthly groundwater levels in a well of Sylhet Sadar at a local scale. The Levenberg-Marquardt(LM) and Bayesian Regularization(BR) algorithms were used to train the NARX network, and the results were compared to determine the best architecture for predicting monthly groundwater levels over time. The comparison between LM and BR showed that NARX-BR has advantages over predicting monthly levels based on the Mean Squared Error(MSE), coefficient of determination(R~2), and Nash-Sutcliffe coefficient of efficiency(NSE). The results show that BR is the most accurate method for predicting groundwater levels with an error of ± 0.35 m. This method is applied to the management of irrigation water source, which provides important information for the prediction of local groundwater fluctuation at local level during a short period.     

Damage detection of base‐isolated buildings using multi‐input multi‐output subspace identification

A damage detection algorithm of structural health monitoring systems for base‐isolated buildings is proposed. The algorithm consists of the multiple‐input multiple‐output subspace identification method and the complex modal analysis. The algorithm is applicable to linear and non‐linear systems. The story stiffness and damping as damage indices of a shear structure are identified by the algorithm. The algorithm is further tuned for base‐isolated buildings considering their unique dynamic characteristics by simplifying the systems to single‐degree‐of‐freedom systems. The isolation layer and the superstructure of a base‐isolated building are treated as separate substructures as they are distinctly different in their dynamic properties. The effectiveness of the algorithm is evaluated through the numerical analysis and experiment. Finally, the algorithm is applied to the existing 7‐story base‐isolated building that is equipped with an Internet‐based monitoring system. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Maximum entropy image reconstruction-a practical non-information-theoretic approach

The maximum entropy method (MEM) of image reconstructtion is discussed in the context of incomplete Fourier information (as in aperture synthesis). Several current viewpoints on the conceptual foundation of the method are analysed and found to be unsatisfactory. It is concluded that the MEM is a form of model-fitting, the model being a non-linear transform of a band-limited function. A whole family of ’entropies’ can be constructed to give reconstructions which (a) are individually unique, (b) have sharpened peaks and (c) have flattened baselines. The widely discussed 1nB and - B1nB forms of the entropy are particular cases and lead to Lorentzian and Gaussian shaped peaks respectively. However, they hardly exhaust the possibilities-for example, B^1/2 is equally good. The two essential features of peak sharpening and baseline flattening are shown to depend on a parameter which can be controlled by adding a suitable constant to the zero spacing correlation ρ₀₀. This process, called FLOATing, effectively tames much of the unphysical behaviour noted in earlier studies of the MEM. A numerical scheme for obtaining the MEM reconstruction is described. This incorporates the FLOAT feature and uses the fast Fourier transform (FFT), requiring about a hundred FFTs for convergence. Using a model brightness distribution, the MEM reconstructions obtained for different entropies and different values of the resolution parameter are compared. The results substantiate the theoretically deduced properties of the MEM. To allow for noise in the data, the least-squares approach has been widely used. It is shown that this method is biased since it leads to deterministic residuals which do not have a Gaussian distribution. It is suggested that fitting the noisy data exactly has the advantage of being unbiased even though the noise appears in the final map. A comparison of the strengths and weaknesses of the MEM and CLEAN suggests that the MEM already has a useful role to play in image reconstruction.     

Wave coupling at a collisionless plasma discontinuity

The coupling of magnetoacoustic waves at a plane interface that separates two semiinfinite collisionless fluids is studied. The fluids are characterized by different temperatures along and transverse to the ambient magnetic field. Continuum equations obtained by Chewet. al. (1956) are used and expressions for the reflection and transmission coefficients are derived. Extensive numerical computations are done to study the variation of the reflection coefficient, with the angle of incidence, for various temperature anisotropies of the media. Relevance of these investigations to the magnetosphere-solar wind boundary is discussed.     

Relationship between interplanetary (IP) parameters and geomagnetic indices during IP shock events of 2005

In the present study, we investigate the possible relationship of IP parameters of solar wind and interplanetary magnetic field with ground-based geomagnetic indices. To carry out the study, we take all the IP shock events listed by Proton Monitor onboard Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) during 2005, and plot the time variations of all the IP parameters and geomagnetic parameters (±5 days), centered at the shock arrival time. Next, we obtain scatter plots of absolute values of solar wind parameters such as Vsw, Nsw and Interplanetary Magnetic Field (IMF) components Bx, By, Bz and total B with the values of geomagnetic parameters such as Dst, Kp indices, dayside Magnetopause (MP) distance and Cosmic-Ray Neutron Monitor count (CRNM). The scatter plots show that before the IP shock, the pattern is random with no clear relationship. Following the shock, a clear pattern emerges with a type of relationship being seen — clear for SHARP shocks and less clear for DIFFUSE shocks. A total of 10 shock events for 2005 have been studied. Typical examples of this behaviour are the shock events of January 21, 2005 and May 15, 2005. Our study suggests a definite correlation between changes in the solar wind and interplanetary magnetic field parameters and ground-based geomagnetic response. We are trying to obtain quantitative relationships between these for shock events of 2005.     

Heavy metals contamination in road dust in Delhi city,India

Road dust samples were collected from four different areas having different landuse patterns: industrial, heavy traffic, residential and mixed use in Delhi city of India. The samples were analyzed for Ba, Co, Cr, Cu Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn by ICP-AES. Results indicate high levels of Co, Cr, Cu, Mn and Ni in samples collected from industrial area. Ba, Pb and Zn showed higher concentration levels in heavy traffic area while Fe did not show any discernible variation between the localities. The concentrations of Fe, Mn, Ba, Zn, Cr, Cu, Pb, Ni and Co showed a decreasing trend. The content of heavy metals was comparable to those in other cities in the world. A multivariate statistical approach which includes Pearson’s correlations and principal component analysis was used to identify the possible sources of metals in the road dust. Enrichment factors were estimated for further confirming the sources of contamination. Significant positively correlations between road dust metals Cu–Mn–Co–Cr–Ni suggest that major common source of origin is industrial activities. A meaningful correlation between Ba and Zn, and a moderate positive correlation between Pb and Ba indicate the influence of traffic activities. Enrichment factors calculation indicated that Pb, Cu, Cr and Zn are moderately enriched whereas Co, Ni and Mn are less enriched while Ba exhibited very low enrichment in the dust samples. The results indicate that industrial and vehicular traffic are the two major sources. Traffic appears to be responsible for the high levels of Zn, Cu and Ba. High concentration of Co, Cr, Cu and Mn may be due to industrial sources.